Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has threatened to break off talks with Moscow should Russian forces wipe out the remaining Ukrainian soldiers trapped in Mariupol as Moscow claimed it had taken control of the besieged and battered port city after a weeks-long battle.

The Russian Defense Ministry on April 16 said it had cleared the Mariupol urban area of Ukrainian troops and had trapped a few remaining fighters in the Azovstal steel plant.

A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman was quoted by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency as saying that Ukrainian forces have lost a total of 4,000 troops during the long fight for the city. Casualty figures from both sides have proved impossible to independently confirm.

Ukraine has not commented on the latest Russian claims but in recent days has indicated the situation in Mariupol was desperate, with deaths mounting among the trapped civilian population and many experts predicting the city would soon fall to the Russians.

In an interview published earlier on April 16 with Ukrayinska Pravda, Zelenskiy warned Russia against committing atrocities against Ukrainian soldiers in the city.

"The elimination of our troops, of our men [in Mariupol] will put an end to any negotiations. That will bring an impasse as we don't negotiate on either our territories or our people. The situation is very difficult [in Mariupol]. Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked. There is a humanitarian crisis.... Nevertheless, the guys are defending themselves."

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said at least one person was killed and several others wounded in early morning attacks.

"For those Kyivites who left and are already thinking of heading back to return to the capital, I ask you to refrain from this and stay in safer places."

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy said:

"The success of our military on the battlefield has been really significant. Historically significant. But it's still not enough to clear our land from the invading forces. The sanctions against Russia are very serious, economically painful. But it is not enough to starve Russia's military machine. We need to promote stronger, more destructive sanctions. This will determine how long this war will last."

Meanwhile, the United States and its Western allies continued to pile pressure on Moscow over its campaign. The German government said on April 15 that it plans to release more than 1 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine. The move comes amid criticism from Ukraine and some EU partners such as Poland and the Baltic states that Germany has not done enough to send armaments to Kyiv.

The UN refugee agency said as of April 16 that 4,836,445 million Ukrainians had left the country since the Russian invasion -- up by 40,200 from the previous day's total.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday to express his frustration both over the type of weapons being supplied and the pace of deliveries, [Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhail] Podolyak offered a reminder that Ukraine keeps asking EU members for armaments and, in his opinion, "Europeans [sic] support the call for their governments."

But the "EU gives Ukraine weapons but not the ones we asked for," he claimed, before adding that the "weapons take too long to arrive."

He concluded his post with what appears to be a warning: "Democracy won't win from playing this game. Ukraine needs weapons. Not in a month. Now."

Last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky's regime banned Ukraine's second largest political party, the Opposition Platform - For Life, and earlier this week its leader, Victor Medvedchuk, was captured by government forces.

A couple of weeks ago, the country's foreign minister, Dmitry Kuleba, while speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said that he came with a simple agenda consisting of only three items: "weapons, weapons and weapons." Kuleba argued that, as Euro-Atlantic security is "indivisible," by fighting Russian forces Ukraine is defending not only itself but also bolstering the security of the bloc's members.

Following the launch of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the EU announced that it would cover the delivery of $500 million worth weapons to Kiev, marking a U-turn in the bloc's longstanding policy of not providing military assistance.

In addition to EU-level funding, many individual members have significantly increased their military support for Kiev. In a major policy change Germany - the EU's richest country - reversed its stance on not providing Kiev with lethal weapons and significantly increased its military spending to assist Ukraine.

However, despite many requests from Kiev, Berlin has refused to send any "offensive weapons," such as tanks and other armored vehicles.

Despite all of the support Kiev is getting from the West, Zelensky has asked for more. He has stated that Ukraine desperately needed more tanks and aircraft, but that its partners have been hesitant on this matter due to an unwillingness to risk a direct confrontation with Russia. For the same reason they have refused to close the sky over the country.

• Russian airstrikes destroy 107 military sites in western Ukraine in 24 hours
• Russia destroys tank factory & 16 military other targets in Kiev, claims loss of Moskva ship was due to 'detonation of onboard ammunition'
• Ukraine claims it stopped recruiting foreigners because it's running out of weapons and they're too inexperienced

The Russian Defense Ministry has called on the remaining Ukrainian forces, besieged at a steel plant in the coastal city of Mariupol, to lay down their arms, offering safety guarantees, if they accept the proposal and halt all hostilities on Sunday morning.

"Considering the catastrophic situation at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, and being guided by purely humane principles, the Russian Armed Forces offer militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries to stop hostilities and lay down their arms starting 6am Moscow time on April 17, 2022," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a late-night announcement on Saturday.

"All who lay down their weapons are guaranteed the preservation of life," the ministry stated.

Earlier on Saturday, Moscow revealed its estimate of Ukrainian casualty numbers, claiming that in the city of Mariupol alone, Kiev has lost more than 4,000 combatants, including "foreign mercenaries" and "Nazis" associated with the notorious Azov and Aidar regiments.

In its ceasefire proposal, the Russian military said that the remaining troops are in a "hopeless situation, with virtually no food and water," citing the contents of hundreds of radio intercepts on Saturday alone. The holed-up fighters allegedly "persistently request permission from the officials in Kiev to lay down their arms and surrender," while the Ukrainian authorities "categorically forbid it under the threat of wartime executions," Moscow claimed.

Moscow offered to establish a direct communication line with the Ukrainian troops at 5am, and to indicate the beginning of the actual ceasefire at 6am by raising flags around the perimeter of Azovstal - red on the Russian side and white on the Ukrainian side. The Ukrainian units will then have until 1pm to withdraw from their stronghold, without any weapons or ammunition.

The proposal and terms of surrender "will be broadcast continuously throughout the night to Ukrainian formations at Azovstal on all radio channels at 30-minute intervals," the ministry added.

Earlier this week, more than 1,000 service members of Ukraine's 36th Marines Brigade allegedly laid down their arms at the Illich Steel and Iron Works, a giant metal mill they were using as a stronghold. The report, however, was disputed by Ukrainian officials.

• 'He was evil personified'': Melinda says Bill Gates friendship with Epstein played role in divorce
• Joe Rogan: How can Bill Gates lecture people about health when he has 'man boobs,' a gut, and 'toothpick arms'
• Bill Gates says Omicron 'sadly' spreads immunity faster than vaccines
• Bill Gates calls for "aggressive" carbon taxes to "accelerate" Fourth Industrial Revolution
• Bill Gates warns of pandemics 'far worse than Covid'
• Fear mongering for funding: Bill Gates warns of worse pandemics in future
• People 'governed by fear,' says Man Utd legend as he brings up Bill Gates in Covid comments
• Bill Gates calls for governments to censor social media and celebrates 'The New Normal'

• Zelensky is Not in Charge of Ukraine, Nazis Are - And They Believe They Are on a Mission From God to 'Derussify Ukraine in Holy War'
• The Science of Evil: A Personal Review of Political Ponerology
• Political Ponerology: The Study of Evil in the Political Realm
• The Psychorium: A needed new analytical tool in the study of pathocracy
• Political Ponerology And The Rise Of Totalitarianism In The West

• MindMatters: How Psychopaths Infect and Destroy Hierarchies of Competence
• MindMatters: "They Enjoy the Infliction of Pain": Psychopaths, Wokeness, Ponerology - with Michael Rectenwald